# Made in California

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Made in California (1962–2012) is a compilation box set by the Beach Boys, released on August 27, 2013. The set, released through Capitol Records, was designed by Mark London in a form emulating a high school yearbook. The set contains six CDs with tracks that span the band's entire career, including outtakes, demos, B-sides, rarities, alternate takes and versions, plus over 60 previously unreleased. It supersedes the theretofore career-spanning 1993 box set Good Vibrations: Thirty Years of The Beach Boys, which followed a similar premise.

## Background

Originally announced for a 2012 release, alongside the two-disc compilation album Fifty Big Ones, the box set was ultimately delayed. In Spring 2013, an August 27 release date was confirmed, and on June 11, the artwork and track list was revealed.
Much of the box set features unreleased work by the Wilson brothers Dennis and Carl, which the surviving members were said to have "pushed for." Dennis' song "(Wouldn't It Be Nice to) Live Again" was especially anticipated toward the release of the box set.
Some previously bootlegged unreleased tracks were left out of the compilation due to the group being uncomfortable with their contents. These included: "Stevie" (a 1981 Brian Wilson composition allegedly written about Stevie Nicks), "My Solution" (a Halloween-themed recording made on October 31, 1970 about a mad scientist), "Carry Me Home" (a Dennis Wilson song containing the lyrics "please God don't take my life"), "Thank Him" (a solo 1963 Brian Wilson demo), and "Walkin'" (a late-1960s Brian Wilson song with an abandoned vocal take). (All of these, except "Stevie", have since been released: "Thank Him" was released on The Big Beat 1963, "Walkin'" was released on I Can Hear Music: The 20/20 Sessions (2018) and Feel Flows (2021), "My Solution" was also included on Feel Flows, and "Carry Me Home" was released on Sail On Sailor - 1972 (2022).)

## Promotional contest

To promote the album, fans were given the opportunity to contribute to the production of a music video for the previously unreleased track "California Feelin'" via Tongal. The same service offered fans the chance to submit a lead guitar track for "Goin' to the Beach", with the winner's performance mixed into the song by Mark Linett and Alan Boyd. The winner was also awarded a custom guitar. A downloadable version of "Goin' to the Beach" was made available on July 22, 2013 as an incentive for pre-ordering the box-set.

## Track listing

Original stereo mixes unless otherwise noted. Tracks marked ♦ are exclusive to Made in California. All tracks written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love except where noted.
   The story we wanted to tell for the box set was to go as far beyond the stereotype of the Beach Boys as possible. They ended up with multiple and divergent and sometimes incompatible fan bases. It’s a real mind blower to think the same people who crafted this happy sing-along called "Surfin' Safari" also brought us "God Only Knows" and Smile and Surf's Up and Holland and all that type of music. There was an awful lot of talent within that group and each one of the band brought something singular and important to the fabric of the Beach Boys story. We really wanted to impress people with the fact that this band was incredibly versatile.
   In terms of the live tracks, the goal was to present things that were a little bit more unique. We have a version of "Help Me Rhonda" but it features Dennis [Wilson] singing lead instead of Al [Jardine]. We have a live version of "Wild Honey" with Blondie Chaplin singing lead. There are some recordings from the ’68 tour with the band doing "Friends" and Dennis performing "Little Bird". We tried to include deeper tracks with the live material and also deeper tracks all around.
   The discs are organized chronologically up until the first half of disc five. The rest of disc five is unreleased live tracks. Disc six is entirely made up of unreleased tracks, acapella tracks, demos, backing tracks etcetera. Rather than sticking the rarities in where they would have been organized in a chronological fashion, I think it makes more sense this way and it plays better as well.